Teaching Infants Sign Language Acquisition Process

Running head: BABY SIGN LANGUAGE

Baby Sign Language: Does Teaching Infants Sign Language Help or Hinder the Language Acquisition Process?
Selena Y. Burgos
Seminole State Community College

BABY SIGN LANGUAGE
Baby Sign Language: Does Teaching Infants Sign Language Help or Hinder the Language Acquisition Process?
According to Susan Kubric Barnes1 (2010), numerous programs have been created to help families and teachers learn to better communicate with children as young as 6 months old. The 1853 issue of American Annals of the Deaf and Dumb encompassed an article that explained the benefit of teaching hearing children the language through verbal and non-verbal techniques. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet2 said that “The more varied the form
One group received training to encourage verbal language with their infants, the second control group received no training or intervention. During this study, the signs used by families and trainers were based on natural gestures. Some families chose to make up their own signs for certain items that were used on a daily bases around the house. For example, to make the sign for drink, signers make the shape of their hand holding a cup and bring it to their mouth. Now most of the words taught in baby sign language programs have been adapted from that of American Sign Language system. According to the District Manager for Baby Signs, complicated signs were sometimes changed to make it easier for the child to make it meaningful (B. Broughton, personal communication, March 24, 2006). The results from this study led observers to consider that the use of sign language development improves scores on intelligence tests. Acredolo and Goodwyn believe that baby signs stimulate brain development by strengthening connections that make it easier for a baby to communicate and to succeed. They clarify that without the use of the sign, this neurological growth would be delayed several months until the baby could distinguish words. It is important for viewers of these results to keep in mind that other factors may have led to the
Perhaps other caregivers and therapists involved in the program were more engaging with signing babies than non-signers. We should consider it was not just the effect of using sign language, but the impact of how much time the adults and children spent together as they engaged in communication. Despite the weak direct evidence that infant sign language leads to the increase of intelligence, there are other positive indications. A special education teacher said “If you want to know what it feels like to be a toddler, go to a country where you don’t know the language and just try to get along. Just getting something to eat or finding a restroom when you don’t know the language is so frustrating!” (P. Kennedy, personal communication, March 2006). Learning to sign may help the child interact and better express themselves with their environment but it doesn’t necessarily mean that they are smarter than a child who didn’t engage themselves with the ASL culture.
Conclusion and Further Studies Young children may throw temper tantrums as a result of the feeling of anger and frustration because they are unable to verbally express themselves. The practice of signing is thought to reduce this frustration because it gives babies the opportunity